Grandma’s Tomato & Fava Bean Stew

Vegetarian, high in fiber.

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Bonjour and welcome to recipe no. 9.

This time, I have absolutely nothing to say about this recipe. Except that it’s excellent. That’s it, just being honest. So I won’t keep you waiting any longer, let’s get to the recipe.

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Tomato and Fava Bean Stew

Mijoté de Fèves à la Tomate

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Ingredients

Serves 4.

• 4 tbsp olive oil

• 1 yellow onion

• 4 large tomatoes or 6 medium tomatoes

• 100 ml dry white wine (optional)

• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

• Salt, pepper

• 500 g fava beans (fresh or frozen)

• 1 bunch of basil

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Instructions

1. In a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot, over medium heat, pour in 4 tablespoons of olive oil.

2. Thinly slice the onion and toss it into the pot. Let it brown for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Roughly chop 4 large tomatoes or 6 medium ones.

4. Add the tomatoes and 100 ml of white wine to the pot. Season with salt and pepper. Let simmer for 30 minutes, maintaining a gentle boil. Stir from time to time.

5. Next, add the fava beans and let them simmer over low heat for another 10 minutes.

6. When serving, garnish your plate with a few fresh basil leaves.

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The Mishaps

I’ve decided to include this section for the sake of transparency. In the coming days, I’ll add it to previous articles if there were any mishaps during the process. Just a reminder: I’m not a professional chef, and I didn’t study culinary arts. I cook out of passion. I don’t know everything, even if I have an impressive library of cookbooks. I haven’t read them all yet...

So here’s a rather silly mistake: I used fresh fava beans, and after shelling them, I blanched them, meaning I cooked them for 2 minutes in boiling water, then plunged them into an ice bath. I thought this was to set the color, like you do with Brussels sprouts. That’s not entirely wrong, but it’s not the main purpose: blanching fava beans actually makes it easier to remove their skins, which can be slightly bitter.

Of course, I only realized this once the dish was completely done. So I had to go through each bean, one by one, peeling off their thin skins, burning my fingertips a bit in the process. Yes, I could have waited for them to cool, but I was short on time.

And! If you also prefer using fresh fava beans, wear gloves when shelling them. Otherwise, like me, you might end up with stained fingertips for a day or two. Even scrubbing with a brush, it takes a while to fade.

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Thank you for reading, let me know what you think in the comments!